June 7, 2002

How Many Dissertations Are 'Bombshells'?

To the Editor:

I found it distasteful and disturbing that major scholars in European history would ... publicly attack a junior scholar's first work as not making a difference -- "of little significance," "unoriginal," "not a bombshell" ("Were There Jews in the Nazi Army?," May 3).

My guess is that surveying the doctoral theses produced under the supervision of Peter Gay, David Cesarani, and Raul Hilberg would reveal many that fall far short of the "bombshell" standard to